The Hero Battles the Demon King

Just when he thought he had escaped, he suddenly heard a string twang, and then his body was struck as if by a heavy blow, his bones felt like they were about to fall apart, and he was thrown back and flew towards the back hall.

"No--"

Duan Changkun turned his head and saw that the young man who had single-handedly broken through all the resistance of the Evil Ghost Sect was giving him a friendly smile. He immediately felt that he was falling into the clutches of evil and couldn't help but shout in fear.

"What are you yelling about? Hurry up and tell us where Li Ban is."

Si Ming reached out and grabbed Duan Changkun by the neck, lifting him up like a chick. At the same time, his five-finger Law Power penetrated into his body, suppressing every muscle and tendon of the opponent like Five Fingers Mountain.

"Li Ban did indeed come to our sect seeking help, but we never took him in. As for his whereabouts, I have no idea, and he would never reveal his location to me. However, he did propose to unite with various Evil Dao Grandmaster to ambush the pursuers, but the Evil Ghost Sect is a large and powerful family, so why would they risk everything on a stray dog like him? Naturally, I refused. Our sect truly has nothing to do with Li Ban!"

Duan Changkun quickly confessed, showing no intention of keeping Li Ban's secret, and spoke with great emotion.

Upon hearing this, Si Ming was not disappointed, but instead said, "So he really isn't here?"

"You... you knew it all along?"

"Um."

"Then why did you come here to attack us, without even giving us a chance to explain?" Duan Changkun, both surprised and resentful.

"It was on the way. Li Ban happened to pass through here while he was on the run. Although I thought it was unlikely that you were hiding him, I took care of you just in case, and also gave my companions some practice."

"That's the reason? You destroyed the Evil Ghost Sect just because it was convenient, easy, and incidental?"

Si Ming glared at him and said, "I am from the righteous path, you are from the Evil Dao. Does the righteous path need any reason to kill the Evil Dao?"

This statement was indeed irrefutable, but the thought that the Evil Ghost Sect, with its two-hundred-year history, had been destroyed by him for such a trivial reason left Duan Changkun completely disoriented and speechless.

Seeing that the other party had completely lost the will to struggle and did not know the whereabouts of Li Ban, Si Ming also lost interest in him. Too lazy to interrogate him, he directly crippled the other party's Cultivation Body and planned to hand him over to the people of the Evil-Slaying Sword School to take back to the Righteous Qi Palace. Although it would be more convenient to execute him on the spot and get rid of him, as the sect leader of the Evil Ghost Sect, he would definitely be able to get a lot of useful information out of him. A living person is better than a dead corpse.

A moment later, Liu Qingqing and Yuezheng Yao joined forces to kill the Evil Ghost King and landed back on the ground.

"This body is very useful. It ignores pure physical force, can recover quickly after being attacked, has no vital points, is immune to all poisons, and has extremely strong resistance to ghostly energy and Sha Qi. Moreover, it has no blind spots and can see clearly in 360 degrees. My eyes are not actually real eyes, but just decorations. Their presence or absence does not affect observation. However, I am afraid that if I get used to it, I will forget how to dodge enemy attacks when I return to my original body."

After summarizing her experience from the battle, Liu Qingqing added, "Divine Arts is no longer usable. I summoned the Goddess of Mercy, but received no feedback. If Sister Shang hadn't taught me the 'Five Calamities of the Cosmic Dharma Ending,' I wouldn't know how to fight anyone."

At this moment, Liu Qingqing was no longer naked; she had put on clothes. However, these clothes were also formed from the Blood Spirit Body, so in essence, she was still not wearing any clothes, but it looked as if she was.

Yuezheng Yao said, "Did you call me here just to deal with this kind of guy? One-on-one might be worth training him, but he was already scared out of his wits by you just now, wasn't he?"

The Beast King Anye was severely injured by Si Ming and struck by the Evil-Slaying Sword Intent, making it difficult for him to recover. Li Ban was also being relentlessly pursued by Si Ming and was preoccupied with his own survival. As a result, the Evil-Slaying Sword School's situation suddenly turned from danger to safety. In addition, since Senior Wu Xiu had already gone there, Si Ming brought Yuezheng Yao back. After the lesson he learned last time, he had a deep understanding of the principle that there is strength in numbers.

Shang Yu said, "Although this Sect Master Duan doesn't know Li Ban's whereabouts, judging from the information he revealed, the day of the decisive battle with Li Ban shouldn't be far off."

Chapter 568 Hero vs. Demon King

Yuntian Mountain, the former headquarters of the Blood Abyss Sect, is now a wasteland, a scene of devastation. Even the miasma that used to permeate the area has dissipated due to the destruction of the terrain.

"I'm sure you all already know about the annihilation of the Evil Ghost Sect. Now, is there anyone still clinging to the illusion that this Heavenly Martial Alliance leader is only targeting the Blood Abyss Sect?"

Li Ban glanced around. The people standing to his left and right were all renowned Evil Dao Grandmaster from the Barbarian Continent. Moreover, they were not limited to the Eastern Martial World, but also included those from the Southern Martial World and Western Martial World. Among them were Yang Dongli, the Thousand-Handed Demon King of the Seven Kills Sect; Ximen Chou, the Ximen Chou of Ghost Fort Fortress; Zhong Jiu, the Purgatory Divine Lord of the Purgatory Gate; and Tong Tianhao, the leader of the Golden Finger Gang. These four could all rank among the top five Evil Dao masters in the Southern Martial World and Western Martial World.

Ximen Chou said indignantly, "The Evil Ghost Sect and the Heavenly Martial Alliance have no enmity whatsoever, yet Alliance Leader Sima has ransacked their homes and silenced them, destroying their century-old foundation in an instant. Even Sect Master Duan Changkun couldn't escape his clutches. This man is utterly depraved, more Evil Dao than the Evil Dao themselves, a complete demon!"

Ghost Fort and the Evil Ghost Sect have a long-standing ancestral connection. Therefore, when Ximen Chou heard the news of the Evil Ghost Sect's annihilation, he was furious. He denounced Si Ming's cruel methods everywhere, calling him the "Heavenly Martial Devil Master." He wished he could tell the Daoist Gate, "You have all been deceived by him," "Don't believe him," and "This person is a demon lurking in the righteous path." He was almost ready to propose, "Why don't we join forces to uphold justice?"

Yang Dongli coughed a few times, signaling Ximen Chou to calm down, and then said, "Alliance Leader Sima claims to be pursuing Sect Leader Li, but in reality, he's using a feigned attack to eliminate the Daoist Gate he encounters along the way. If this had happened to the righteous sects, they would probably have become universally reviled villains. Unfortunately, we Evil Dao are worthless; even in death, no one stands up to seek justice for us. We deserve to be bullied."

Both Ghost Fort and Seven Kills Sect belong to the Southern Martial World, and the evil sects of the Southern Martial World have never fared well. In the past, they had to survive between the Glazed Temple and the Monster Race. The Purple-Pupiled Spirit King, a powerful ruler, wanted to lead the Monster Race to unify the world and enslave the Human Race. He did not have the idea that the enemy of an enemy is a friend. He regarded all humans as enemies. He wanted to kill the righteous path and also the Evil Dao. Sometimes, in order to survive, the Evil Dao masters had to cooperate with the righteous path.

After the death of the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King, the Glazed Temple became the dominant force. After a year of recuperation, it began to take over and maintain order in the Southern Martial World, constantly putting pressure on the Evil Dao. It should be noted that the martial monks of the Glazed Temple were elites who survived the bloody battle with the Monster Race army. They were all brave and skilled in battle, even more so than special forces soldiers. They defeated the Evil Dao sect masters, who could only tuck their tails between their legs and beg for survival.

Ghost Fort has already moved to the border between the Eastern Martial World Southern Martial World. When the Glazed Temple attacks, they flee into the Eastern Martial World, and when the Evil-Slaying Sword School attacks, they flee into the Southern Martial World, showing a strong tendency to wage guerrilla warfare.

Li Ban said, "Our Evil Dao is looked down upon and defeated one by one precisely because of our lack of unity. As long as Sima Liang is not eliminated, the Evil Dao will never have peace."

The Purgatory Divine Lord Zhong Jiu snorted coldly and said, "I think Sima Liang's aim wasn't to use a pretext to destroy Guo, but rather to make an example of us by annihilating the Evil Ghost Sect. This is a warning to us not to interfere, or we'll suffer the same fate as the Evil Ghost Sect. In the end, this is a matter for your Eastern Martial World, what does it have to do with our Western Martial World?"

Li Ban said, "Don't forget, Sima Liang isn't from the Eastern Martial World. The Heavenly Martial Alliance's headquarters is located in the Western Martial World. He'll return sooner or later. Killing him will cause internal strife within the Heavenly Martial Alliance over power struggles. Even for the sake of the Purgatory Gate's interests, the Divine Lord should join forces with us to kill him. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we miss this chance, the hope of killing him again in the future will be slim. After all, gathering so many powerful figures is no easy task."

In the past, the Evil Dao of the Western Martial World lived a very carefree life. After all, the Six Paths Temple was a sect that was both righteous and evil. It was only responsible for eliminating Monster Race and had no hostility towards the Evil Dao. Moreover, the Western Martial World did not have a powerful King of Monsters. The only thing they had to deal with was a loosely organized righteous sect.

However, their good days came to an end after the establishment of the Heavenly Martial Alliance. In the past, the righteous and the Evil Dao kept to themselves and did not interfere with each other. Although they verbally proclaimed that the righteous and the evil could not coexist, they generally would not go to war unless there was a conflict of interest.

After the establishment of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, the highest reward among the publicly announced missions was naturally to eliminate the Monster Race, followed by the extermination of those notorious Evil Dao masters and Daoist Gate.

In the past, killing Evil Dao masters brought no real benefit other than fame, yet it risked one's life—a truly unprofitable deal. But now, eliminating them yields valuable contribution points, a win-win situation. The crowd's enthusiasm surged, with shouts of "Eliminating the scourge of the martial world!" "It is our duty to eliminate evil and uphold justice!" "For the sake of a peaceful and tranquil Western Martial World!"

The Heavenly Martial Alliance's task board is perpetually adorned with bounty lists for Evil Dao masters. Some wandering Rogue Person and those with ambiguous righteousness also take on the work of bounty hunters in order to earn contribution points. Some disciples of Daoist Gate even use these Evil Dao masters as their martial arts trials, challenging them level by level according to the bounty amount. Killing a target earns them better martial arts skills, and as they improve their strength, they challenge even more powerful targets, successfully hunting them down to obtain even better skills... It's practically like playing a leveling-up game.

Not only do the righteous path kill the Evil Dao, but the Evil Dao also kills the Evil Dao. While earning contribution points, they can also whitewash their own reputation. This combined internal and external killing has left them in a state of utter despair, their numbers plummeting to the point where they are almost on the verge of becoming first-class protected animals.

The so-called Evil Dao refers to a group of people who are unwilling to abide by the rules and act recklessly. Daoist Gate emphasize "gentlemen use words, not fists" and "if they fight, they should stop short of fighting." They have a series of unwritten rules to maintain order. Evil Dao, on the other hand, believe "whoever is strong is the boss" and "why should I return what I took by force?" They have no alliances with each other. If they also set rules and ordered their members to abide by them, it would be better to join the righteous path.

Li Ban continued to persuade them, "At first, they hunted down the Blood Abyss Sect, but you weren't a disciple of the Blood Abyss Sect, so you remained silent; then, they hunted down the Evil Dao of the Eastern Martial World, but you weren't from the Eastern Martial World, so you remained silent; later, they hunted down the Evil Dao of the Southern Martial World, but you weren't from the Southern Martial World, so you remained silent; finally, they attacked you, and when you tried to ask for help, you found there was no one to ask for help."

"I understand the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold,' but..."

Zhong Jiu thought about the Purgatory Gate's situation in the Western Martial World and couldn't help but feel tempted.

At this moment, Tong Tianhao sneered, "No matter how nicely Sect Leader Li speaks, he's essentially just trying to get something for nothing. Alliance Leader Sima is clearly after you, yet he wants us to risk our lives for him for nothing. His calculations are far too cunning."

Upon hearing this, Li Ban knew that the plan had largely succeeded. If these people hadn't intended to cooperate, they probably wouldn't have traveled all this way. For example, he had sent requests for help to the Heaven-Spanning Red Sect and the Sea Devil Gang, but they hadn't even responded. The reason these people were now objecting was actually to demand more benefits, just like haggling in a vegetable market.

Li Ban immediately took out two secret manuals and said, "These are rubbings of our sect's ultimate techniques, the Blood Abyss Scripture and the Five Evil Seals. Only half of the content is available. I can give them to you as a deposit. Once you kill the leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, I will offer you the remaining half."

Tong Tianhao's eyes lit up. The other party's reaction was even better than he had expected. Even though the names of the Blood Abyss Scripture and the Five Evil Seals were far away in the Western Martial World, he knew how powerful these two unique skills were. He didn't expect that Li Ban would actually be willing to offer them as a reward. It seemed that Alliance Leader Sima had really driven him into a corner.